The other day, I was driving around good ol' Rochester and I heard a radio ad for a very pretty sounding orchestra playing some type of Christmas music. It was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.. coming to Rochester for one night only. I got home, poked around their website, saw a picture in the corner of a pretty snowy wintery scene, and decided that it would be a nice thing to do with Rich one night... so I asked him if he wanted to go. He declined with fervor, so I asked my friend Cathy, who thought it "sounded great" and we got tickets for last night.
Okay, now let me give you some background. It was torrential downpouring in the 'Cha, I had a terrible belly ache all day, and we were both having a very stressful day at work, so I was very close to saying screw it, let's just not go, but I knew that Cathy gets one night out for every few months, and I felt the pressure of sending her home to her kids. I decided to shut my mouth and go.
Again, it was raining like crazy, and the traffic in untraffic-y Rochester was atrocious as this so-called orchestra had sold out the one major venue in the 'Cha. We ended up parking pretty far away in a garage and running through traffic and puddles to get to the front door drenched.
On the way to our seats, Cathy had to go to the bathroom, which left me time to survey the scene. Here's where it gets scary. The place was filled with interesting folk: mullet-wearing women, men, and children, people with missing teeth, spiked black boots, acid washed jeans, etc... It was a far cry from a scene at the Nutcracker showing at the New York City Ballet, which for some reason, I was expecting. I thought this orchestra was going to provide the Nutcracker without the ballet part...
Cathy and I got to our seats and the show started minutes later and my expectations were crushed. I can't even describe what the music was like. It was this crazy heavy metal band similar to.. maybe... Twister Sister? or Slayer? Flopping their long curly hair (with bangs, which always frightens me) up and down as they played their electric guitars. I sat there and tried really hard to tell what Christmas songs they were playing, and I just couldn't do it. We sat through about four songs, trying to stop from cracking up because the rest of the place was totally into it as the flourescent lights came crashing into the crowd... people were standing and yelling and clapping. And Cathy and I were cringing and laughing. We stayed four songs. FOUR SONGS. Then we left. Back to the pouring rain. Back across traffic and puddles. Back to the garage and went back to the restaurant that we had been at only two hours before for a drink. Then, sadly, I sent Cathy home premature to her kiddies on her one night off. Today, we went to tell this crazy story and found that two conservative, religious, Christmas-enthusiasts are taking their families to see this "orchestra" in another city. Could it be just us?
Above are two pictures of one of the leads in the band. He doesn't exactly exude Chamber music player, does he? Also, above, is a marketing shot for the Orchestra. I guess I should have paid more attention to the website.
2 comments:
FYI... if you are going to refer to the city of Rochester by a "nickname," its "the Rock" or the "Roc"....
not "'Cha"... that sounds absolutely ridiculous. i take it you arent from the area?
interesting review of the TSO... i have generally heard good things, and always wanted to go, but now, after reading your review...i will definitely think twice.
did you atleast get to hear their rendition of the Christmas Cannon? i think that is great (go to youtube and search Christmas Cannon)....good enough to get tickets? i doubt it.... but i love that song none-the-less...
oh good grief....that beats all Shelly. I applaud the fact that you battled through torrential weather to endure 4 songs before heading for the door....
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